Rubber belt.



PATENTED MAY 24, 190.4.l

J. w. BLODGBTT.

RUBBER BELT. APPLIUATION r'ILnn snr'r. 29. loos.

l0 IODEL.

ml: omis Pains co; momLnno., wsnmmou. D. c,

UNITED STATES Patented May 24, 1904.

PATENT OEEICE.

JOHN W. BLODGETT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE N. TIRE COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

RUBBER BELT.

SPECIFICATION forming part ofv Letters Patent No. '7617,054, dated May 24, 1904. Application iilel September 29, 1903. Serial No. 175,010. (Ncmodel.)

To @ZL uff/tom, vit may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. BLoDeE'rT, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, inthe county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rubber Belts, of which the folsurfaces or bearing-faces corrugated longitu-` dinally o r provided with longltudlnal rlbs or lowing is a specification.

My invention relates to rubber belts for transmitting power,and is concerned with certain improvements in belts havingtlieir treadgrooves. Y

' The invention consists in the matters here-- inafter described, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings,which form a part of this specification and illustrate em- A lar to Fig. 3 and ,showing a strip of singleknit fabric for the same purpose,v and Fig. 5 is an end elevation of a tubular knit ribbed fabric which may be employed.

In producing belts embracing my invention I employ woven` braided, or knit fabric having longitudinal corrugationsv or provided with longitudinal ribs or grooves on one or both surfaces of the same. The fabric may be woven, braided, or knit from one or more threads and in any suitable manner to provide the corrugations or ribs and grooves referred to; but preferably I employ forl this purpose a knit fabric made from a single thread which forms the warp and the woof and which is corrugated on both sides or faces. The fabric may be made as thick and strong as desired by using a thread of such size and strength as may be necessary therefor. The fabric may be made in either tubular form or in the form of a single strip, and in either of these forms it may be either double-knit, or With ribs and grooves on both faces, or single-knit, or with ribs and grooves on but one of its faces.

In practice I prefer to employ a one-piece longitudinally-corrugated fabric in the form of a striphthat is, not in tubular form-and double-knit froma single thread which forms the warp and the Woof, the corrugations being provided on both sides or faces. Such afabric is illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3 and is knit upon a machine by a backstitch, so that it presents ldipping the fabric in a solution of raw rubber,

or the solution may be applied by a brush or any other suitable means. The rubber-treated fabric is then allowed to dry a short time before putting the layers of rubber thereon to properly finish the surfaces. Only one such layer of rubber need be put on each side of the fabric if the layer is thick enough to friction and to cover the fabric, and one of such layers is preferably made wide enough to fold over the edges of the fabric, thereby covering the edges equally with the faces of the belt. I'f a sufiicient amount of heavy rubber cement or solution is used on the belt, it will not be necessary to use the rubber layers, When the rubber has been applied in either of the methods above described, the belt as then prepared is put in a press and frictioned, .the press being heated sufficiently to soften but not cure the rubber. In applying pressure to friction the belt thus formed Ie'mDlOy any suitable mold or former by which great pre/ssure may be applied tothe belt without permitting it to expand in any direction and which forces the rubber into the interstices and bers of the fabric. After the rubber is frictioned it is put in a mold and cured, the mold being provided with corrugations coinciding with the corrugations in the fabric, The belt may be made Without using the frictioning-rnold.; but I prefer to use the frictioning-rnol'd before curing the belt.

Instead of a fabric provided With corrugations or ribs and grooves on both surfaces I may employ a single-knit fabric or one having the corrugations or ribs and grooves on. but one surface, as is shown in Fig. fi, the corrugated surface being that which is' designed to run againstthe pulley when the belt is in use. In this form the corrugated effect of the fabric is produced by the ribs a and grooves formed only on one of the surfaces of the fabric'.` This fabric is treated in the same manner as the fabric heretofore described, the completed belt differing therefrom in that only one of the rubber' surfaces of the belt is corrugated-that is to say, the surface on the face of the fabric having the ribs a'. i

If the corrugated fabric used in making the belt is tubular, 'a rubber filling should be provided. 'This tubular fabric is knitted in such manner as to provide only its outer surface with ribs a2 and'grooves b2.' The tubular fabric provided with its rubber filling or internal rubber lining is put in a frictioning-mold while in this state and subjected to pressuregvhereby the rubber is forced into the interstices and the fibers of the fabric. After the tubular fabric is frictioned in a mold there may be as much raw rubber put on the opposite surfaces of the fabric as desired, after which it is cured, i

so that all the rubber and fabric will be pressed together so perfectly as to form a homogeneous body having upon its opposite surfaces corrugations which correspond tothe corrugations in the fabric.

Abelt constructed in this manner is strong and durable, and the fabric being of one piece and being thoroughly impregnated and filled with the -rubber' is proof against'moisture', and for this reason the belt is not apt to disintegrate by reason of the agitation due to the Wave produced in it when running over a pulley. l

A decided advantage in the employment of a ribbed fabric resides in this, that with the rubber forced into the fibers and interstices of the fabric and in the grooves when the rubber has Worn off the face of the fabric there is still sufHcient rubber in the bers of the fabric and in the grooves to cause the belt to hang properly to the pulley.

The double-corrugatedbelt is pliable to yad.- just itselfto the face of a crown-pulley, as the corrugations in its outer face allow it to bend tk'srznsversely With less resistance than a solid This application is a continuation of an application filed by me November 5, 1901, Serial No. 81,192, which was a division of an earlier application filed by me July 15, 1901, Serial No. 68,388.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. A belt consisting of a fabric havinga longitudinally-corrugated surface and covered by and having its interstices filled With rubber, the rubber being corrugated to correspond with the corrugations in thefabric. A

2. A beltV consisting of a fabric provided with longitudinal corrugations on both surfaces and covered by yand having its interstices filled with rubber, the rubber being corrugate'di to correspond With` the corrugations in the fabric.

3. A belt consisting of a knit fabric pro` vided With longitudinal corrugations andl covered by and having itsinterstices filled With rubber, the ru-bbersurfaces of the belt having corrugations coinciding withv the corrugations of the fabric.

4. A belt consisting o f a knit fabric having corrugations on.` its faces and covered 'by and having'its'interstices filled with rubber, the

rubber faces of the belt having corrugations coinciding W1th ythe corrugations'on the faces 4 of the fabric. e

In testimony'whereof I affix my signaturein presence of two Witnesses. l K

JOHN W'. BLODGrE'IT.v

Witnesses: y

BENJAMIN' F. FELIX, J. MoRoBEn'rs. p 

